The Blue Hour
by Erzsebeth Bathory
Summary: A "what if?" scenario that follows some time after my fanfic "Shallow." Possible crack!pairing.


**Disclaimer: **All characters belong to their respective owners.

**Author's note #1: **This is sort of a "what if?" scenario that follows some time after the previous _My Bodyguard_ fanfic "Shallow." Many, many thanks to Mrs. Phineas Bogg for the inspiration behind this and virtually all of my MB stories.

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"The Blue Hour"

* * *

The Belmont Harbor was quiet and tranquil as twilight peaked. Across the waters, the windows in the buildings that occupied North Lake Shore Drive and West Belmont Avenue gradually lit up one by one.

"What's special about this place?" Leilani asked as she stood wearily next to Clifford with her arms folded on top of the steel barrier in front of her. Most of her dates would have taken her someplace warmer-like the inside of a mall or a movie theater. Though she had to admit this place was kind of nice in spite of the cold, especially when there weren't too many people around. The local shops were beginning to shut down their hours of operation and with the skies not too bright but not too dark, it did offer a romantic atmosphere.

Well, at least she tried to think of it that way.

"My mom used to ride her bike along the harbors, and she liked this particular spot," Clifford stated as he stepped up on a small platform in front of him and admire the view from a slightly higher vantage point. His lean body pressed against the rail as he bent forward ever so slightly, as if he wanted to reach out and touch the structures on the other side. "This is where she asked my dad to marry him."

"Yeah?" This instantly drew Leilani's attention. "How sweet! Your parents still married?"

Clifford's features dampened a bit as he observed the mild, lapping waters below. "No, she died a while ago. Car accident."

"… I'm sorry." She chewed on her lower lip as she regretted making him admit such a painful reminder. Then again, it wasn't as if she knew that his mom was dead. At least he didn't act sore over it like most people would. It was one of the reasons why she liked Clifford Peache-he was so easy-going.

Clifford's face lightened once more and he shifted his attention onto the blonde, who was now an inch shorter than him because of where he was standing. Leilani had such a gorgeous smile. He could see why she was one of the most sought after girls in school. She was very attractive, especially with the way her light colored hair framed her face seamlessly. Never the less, it continued to amaze him: how someone like her wanted to (willingly) be with someone like him.

"No worries, Leilani. You didn't know." He used the tip of his well-worn sneaker to push a tiny concrete rock off of the platform. It tumbled off the harbor and plopped into the water beneath them. "How about your parents? They married?"

Leilani started rubbing her upper arms and silently wishing she hadn't forgotten her jacket at school. She just had to go for the sleek, sleeveless blouse instead of the sensible but not-as-flashy long sleeved shirt she bought the other day.

"Barbara lives in California with her third husband. It's just me and Daddy."

He didn't miss the bitterness in her tone or the fact that she referred to her mother by her first name. Apparently, she lived with a parent who probably did the best he could to raise his daughter-just like his own father did whatever he could to support him and Gramma. However, not having that second parent, dead or long distance, was sometimes upsetting to acknowledge, no matter how much time passed.

Clifford unfastened his own jacket and carefully placed it over Leilani's bare shoulders. "Sorry, it's all I have."

Her fingers latched onto the thick, warm material now covering her. She could smell his scent on the jacket. It was a clean aroma, not like the heavy cologne her past dates abused themselves with, which often made her want to gag. On top of that, none of them would had ever offered such a chivalrous gesture that Clifford demonstrated-well, at least not without expecting something in return.

"What about you?" she asked, experiencing a sense of relief as the goosebumps on her flesh disappeared. "Won't you get cold?"

Clifford shrugged as he hopped down from the platform and smirked. "It's no biggie. I didn't want you to get sick."

Without saying a word, the young woman leaned forward and planted a kiss on one of his cheeks. He caught a whiff of her alluring lilac perfume as she drew her lips away but remained just inches apart. Clifford noisily cleared his throat and felt his cheeks burn, all the while trying to feign that nothing spectacular happened.

"H-How about I… I take us to get some… um… some dinner? T-The head chef at the hotel's a... a cool guy. He makes these really great steaks you… you should try 'em. Then there's this local band-they're really good-they'll be putting on a performance in the ball room tonight. Maybe we can… go dancing? Heh, I can really get down and boogey, y'know. Or we can…"

Leilani giggled quietly as he rambled on, gradually becoming more confident with himself. He definitively had to be the sweetest boy she knew. But then the nagging thoughts dampened her spirits. They often popped up whenever her feelings for Clifford grew more serious: if only he was taller, wore better (preferably designer) clothes, fixed his hair so it wasn't so poofy, played sports, didn't hang out with those geeks…

"Ugh, just forget it," Leilani muttered as she forcefully pushed aside her pesky, negative judgments. She grabbed a fist full of Clifford's shirt and yanked him against her body until her lips captured his into a deep kiss.

The walls had crumbled and there was no turning back.

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**Author's note #2: **So... that's it! I'm not too sure if there will be another expansion on these two, but I kinda had fun writing them in this type of situation. The dancing Clifford mention was (once again) inspired from Mrs. Phineas Bogg's previous MB stories: the two in particular from "All the right moves" and "The boy with the big green jacket."

Now I have the song "Maniac" stuck in my head-the Flashdance version, mind you. Though I thought the original version based on the 1980's horror film's pretty funny too XD


End file.
